Philippines' Duterte says he will shoot criminals himself

The president made the comments late on Friday following his announcement on October 11 to withdraw the police from his anti-drug war after they were accused of rights abuses in killing thousands of people while following his orders to eradicate illegal drugs in society

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte gestures as he arrives to visit the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology on the outskirts of Manila on October 18, 2017. Aaron Favila / AP

Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte has offered to shoot rapists and paedophiles himself, while warning he may bring police back to the frontlines of his deadly war on drugs.

Mr Duterte made the comments late on Friday following his announcement on October 11 to withdraw the police from his anti-drug war after they were accused of rights abuses in killing thousands of people while following his orders to eradicate illegal drugs in society.

He replaced them with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), which has about 2,000 officers compared with 165,000 in the police force.

Mr Duterte has repeatedly insisted he has not ordered or incited police to murder drug addicts or suspects, while at other times he has said he would be happy to slaughter them or have tens of thousands killed.

Mr Duterte in January made a similar move to give the appearance of sidelining the police from the drug war after revelations that officers murdered a South Korean businessman in the police headquarters under the guise of an anti-drug operation.